Message delivery using a global computer network, such as the Internet, is well-known. For example, delivery of electronic messages, such as e-mail, is one of the most common forms of message delivery. However, other types of messages such as pages, telephone messages, facsimiles, short message service (SMS) messages, as well as other types of messages may be delivered via the Internet using a message delivery service.
To use one of these message delivery services, in most cases, a user subscribes to the service by submitting their credit card information over the Internet. After subscribing, the user enters their account information into the service's website and composes a message, such as by entering a subject line and the body of the message. The user also selects the recipients of the message and selects the delivery method(s) for the message, such as e-mail, fax, pager, etc. An exemplary Internet message delivery service is Envoy Worldwide, Inc.'s “MessageBlaster” delivery service.
Although these services work fairly well, they do have some drawbacks. For example, many users of the Internet are reluctant to transmit their credit card information over the Internet. Without submitting credit card information, it may be difficult for a user to subscribe to a message delivery service (particularly if a user wants to quickly subscribe and send a message).